


Christmas Break

by HMS_Chill



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Dancing, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Sleepy Boys, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Dancing, Slow Dancing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's fine, they're both overworked, with some fun queer history thrown in, y'all this is just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Chill/pseuds/HMS_Chill
Summary: Alex comes home from a Christmas party to find Henry still in the office, and this close to Christmas, he really can't have his boyfriend working so late.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 16
Kudos: 159





	Christmas Break

"When was the last time you moved?"

Alex's voice cuts through the soft music playing from Henry's laptop, forcing him to drag his eyes away from the screen and book splayed open beside him. Alex is still dressed like an elf, and the bells on his shoes jingle as he walks across their shared office to drape himself over his boyfriend's shoulders and kiss Henry's cheek. Henry smiles, closing his eyes and gently bouncing his head against Alex's, enjoying having his boyfriend so close after so long. He realizes that he's smiling, and he lets himself just enjoy Alex's presence for a second before he answers. 

"Hello to you, too. I went to the toilet and got a cup of tea a bit ago."

"Was that before or after I left?"

"Before; I said goodbye then."

Alex pulls away, spinning Henry's chair with him and frowning a bit. "Henry, baby, I've been gone for four hours."

"I've been busy working--"

"I know, but--"

"Look; you've got to read some of these sources. They're about the 1970 Christopher Street Memorial March, which was really the first ever pride, and they're from people talking about how powerful it was. This one in particular; look. It's about turning around and seeing these thousands of people who'd joined along the way, because they barely started with any, and can you just imagine, 1970, and there are suddenly all of these wonderful queer people standing up together--"

"I can't wait to read about it, but right now, I need you up." Alex has spun Henry's chair completely away from the desk now, and he's pulling Henry up, despite Henry's groans. 

"What's this?" Henry asks, once he's finally on his feet and Alex is settling a hand on his shoulder. 

"It's a waltz, baby."

Henry forces himself to actually listen to the background music, and it its, in fact, a waltz. Alex is in position, waiting for him to lead, but Henry pulls him in close and they wander in a vaguely waltz-shaped square instead of sticking to proper form. His grandmother would have something to say about this, doubtless, but the waltz form would be the least of her worries. Alex is rubbing his back, just at the place where his stress sits, and Henry rests his chin on Alex's head. The bell on the top of Alex's ridiculous elf hat jingles dejectedly under his chin, but Henry ignores it, letting himself just relax in Alex's arms. They're together, and they have time, and they're allowed to do things like this now. He hopes it never gets old. 

"How was the party?" he asks eventually, and he can hear the smile in Alex's voice.

"It was good. The congresswoman was wonderful; she always is. Her constituents love her, and that makes working for her really fun. Plus, all I did was give kids gifts and play dreidel and talk to people; it barely felt like a work event. She's just such a great person, and she's fun to work for, and it was a great way to start Christmas break."

Henry hums, pulling Alex's hat off to kiss the top of his head. "Does it feel good to be out of your chair?" Alex asks, and Henry nods. 

"It does. Thank you. Although I have realized I rather need to use the toilet now; I filled the tea pot and then drank it all myself."

Alex laughs. He lets go as the song ends, but Henry pulls him into a stationary hug, so he hugs back. 

"Thank you for looking after me," Henry says, and Alex nods. 

"Of course. You're working so hard, and I know this is important, but you've got time. I just want you to look out for yourself. While I had finals I could make sure you were taken care of, but now I'm on a break I feel like I want you to take one, too. You deserve to have someone looking out for you."

"If I get this book done by the new year, though, I'll have more time for edits and I could still get it out by June," Henry says, "I want it to be available in time for pride."

"You will. You're such a good writer, and you've put so much into this. It's beautiful; you could publish it right now and it would be a bestseller that changed people's lives. But you've been working so hard; you deserve a break as much as the rest of us."

"I suppose..."

"I know. You're brilliant, and you're passionate, and you're wonderful," Alex says, punctuating each adjective with a kiss to Henry's cheek or jaw, "and I'm infinitely proud of you. I just hope... last week, when I was drowning in finals, you were always getting on me to rest and look after myself. I just want you to do that, too."

"I will. I promise. But right now, I've drunk an awful lot of tea and quite desperately need the toilet."

Alex laughs as he lets go, then asks, "Want me to look anything over?"

"There's a paragraph highlighted. Thank you."

Alex nods, sitting in Henry's chair and scrolling up through the document to find the paragraph. When Henry comes back, he finds Alex mid-yawn, staring at the screen with furrowed brows. He's still in his ridiculous costume, hair matted by the hat he's left to the side, but his glasses are on. He's clearly making a valiant effort to stay awake enough to proof read, and looking at him like this, Henry's not sure he's ever been more in love. He wishes he could take this image, his perfect boyfriend sitting at his desk and investing time and effort in loving everything Henry loves, and show it to his past self. He wishes that sixteen-year-old Henry could see that some day, he is going to be so overwhelmingly loved and cared for that he sometimes forgets to breathe. He'd think it was impossible, but still. He deserves to know. 

"I think maybe this can wait until tomorrow," Henry says softly, and when Alex turns to look at him, he can see just how tired his boyfriend really is. It's been a long week for both of them; Henry working on the book and Alex finishing finals and immediately jumping into work on the party tonight. When he thinks about everything they've done, a part of Henry is surprised they're still standing.

"But you wanted me to look, and we're supposed to leave for DC tomorrow."

"It'll be alright. I can bring it on the plane if we don't have time in the morning, and even if you don't get a chance to look, it's okay. You said yourself; we deserve a break."

"But I can help you. You've been working so hard on this all day, and you were so excited to tell me about it. I want to know what got you so fired up."

"I'll tell you what. I haven't written this bit yet, but come to bed with me now, and I'll tell you about the Boston Bisexual Women's Network."

Alex holds out his arms, and Henry hauls him upright, talking about bi history as they make their way to the bedroom. It's a miracle they get Alex's stupid jingly shoes off before they both collapse into bed, cuddled close, and Henry gets to watch Alex fall asleep with a little smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Projection onto Henry? In my fic? It's more likely than you'd think.  
> Also throwback to that point in the book where it says Henry doesn't like to waltz and then I completely ignored that because a waltz is easy to learn. Also because my hang drum study playlist had a waltz on it and I was researching Stonewall and it felt perfect.  
> -  
> If anyone needs study music, I'd really recommend Dante Bucci's hang drum; it's just nice and relaxing. And if you're interested in queer history, I'd recommend _We Are Everywhere_ by Matthew Rimer and Leighton Brown. It's beautiful, y'all.  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! I'm always taking prompts over there. And if you have research questions about a project you're working on that's great, too; I'm going into a career helping people make historically/scientifically accurate art and it's my favorite thing.


End file.
